Chapter 4

Drew watched as tears continued to roll down the face of the man in front of him, and as much as Drew knew he’d done a good thing, both for his survival and for Spock, time was ticking fast. He was running out of time. As much as he wanted to give the man the time he needed to process his newfound freedom of life, Drew needed to figure shit out, and quickly.

“Spock, we need to do the class selection, we’re running out of time, right?” Drew asked hurriedly. Spock blinked his eyes and his gaze quickly refocused, most likely coming to the same realization that Drew had.

“You… I’m sorry… I was not prepared for the eventuality of making my own selections. We have less than six minutes remaining.” Spock’s gaze shifted before turning back to Drew.

“Alright, what do we need to do?” Drew asked impatiently.

“There’s too much information, and not enough time, Drew Wright.” Spock shook his head, overwhelmed.

“Then give me the abridged version. Every second counts here, man,” Drew replied, rolling his hand in a gesture meant to speed along the process. Spock stared at him for several long seconds, and for a moment, Drew feared that he’d broken the man.

Spock rallied. “We need to select our starting classes. As we level up and hit specific milestones, we will be granted the opportunity to evolve or change classes to better suit our needs. Each starting class has skills associated with it, to begin with. Additional skills can be purchased using a… boon.” Spock paused as he said the last word, tensing up slightly.

“Great. Are there any magic starting classes? That’s what I believe I’d like to focus on,” Drew said, remembering that he needed to convince his wife and mother that The System was coming and with it, an impending apocalypse.

Magic is the only way I can show them that I’m not a crazy person. If I can sling some spells around, they’ll know for certain that something isn’t right and that there’s a possibility that I’m telling the truth.

“Yes, there are two magic-based classes. Just focus on your desire and The System will relay the information,” Spock answered quickly.

Drew closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he attempted to focus on the idea of a spellcaster or mage in his mind. Boxes of text appeared behind his closed eyes, and he opened them to focus on the information.

Caster

A basic starting class that focuses on magical combat. Casters favor mental stat attributes over physical ones. This class is wide in scope and not yet specialized in any school of magic. Caster’s starting skills lack any defensive options; however, they may be obtained later as experience is gained. Casters are well-known for using destructive and powerful spells but can lack resiliency at early levels.

Per level bonus attributes: +1 PCT, +1 INT, +1 WIS, +1 WIL, +2 Free points

Neophyte

A basic starting class that focuses on the support, defense, and healing of themselves and others. Neophytes are most well-known for removing afflictions, healing injuries, and casting supportive buff spells to bolster their ally’s strength. Neophyte’s starting skills lack any offensive capabilities; however, they may be obtained later as experience is gained.

Per level bonus attributes: +1 PCT, +1 INT, +1 WIS, +1 WIL, +2 Free points.

Huh, after the huge number of races that were available for selection, I’m a bit surprised that the starting classes are so… vanilla. Looks like it comes down to whether I want to be a healer or a mage. Which, isn’t even a real question for me.

Caster class selected

Please select up to three additional starting skills in exchange for your final boon. If three skills are not selected, basic starting equipment will be provided in their stead.

Drew’s eyes opened wide as a ridiculously massive list of skills and spells blotted out his vision. The list was so long that it would put phonebooks and dictionaries to shame, and Drew felt completely overwhelmed by the number of available options.

“Hey Spock, I’ve got a fucking massive list of skills in front of me, is there any way to narrow them down at all?” Drew asked with just a hint of excitement and nervousness in his voice.

“Certainly, Drew Wright. You may filter your options by focusing on your desires. The System can be quite intuitive,” Spock answered, his tone slightly distracted. He was likely going through his own options as he answered Drew’s question.

Okay… what do I need? Hmm…

Alert! Tutorial Introduction time allotment ending soon.

Time until transportation to progenitor origin point: Three minutes.

Three minutes?! Fuckkk. Okay, think Drew, think. What the hell do I need? The class information said I lack any kind of starting defensive skills, so I definitely need that. If the class is completely focused on mental attributes, and they work like they do in games, then I need a magic-based spell or shield of some kind.

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The list narrowed down until several options were flashing in front of him. Normally, he’d take the time to read each one individually and choose the one that suited him the most, but right now he was almost out of time, so Drew quickly browsed by the title of the skill only. After moving through the list, his eyes settled on one and with a thought, he pulled it up.

Mana Shield (Grade – Inferior)

Usage of this spell grants a thin shield of glowing mana around the caster. This shield is weightless and will not encumber agility or spellcasting prowess. As minor damage is incurred against the shield, a caster’s MP will drain at a 1:1 ratio until either the caster’s MP is depleted, or the spell is cancelled. Excess damage past the caster’s MP will transfer over to HP. This is a staple defensive spell for most casters.

Okay, cool. I’ll select that. It’s easy, simple, and sounds like it’s pretty hard to fuck up. Next… what do I need after that? Well, it’s only my wife and my mom living with me, and I guess Spock will be a house guest, which isn’t a lot of people. I’m pretty confident we could handle a monster or two, but if we get stuck fighting a bunch, then we’re probably fucked.

So, how do I remedy that? I have other tokens, and I might be able to convince Mark and Miranda to come over before doomsday hits, but that’s still only six people in total. We live in the middle of freaking nowhere, and there’s no major cities within thirty minutes of us, which means we need to be self-sufficient – and we need to bolster our numbers. Is there an option to make golems or summon familiars or something?

The list of abilities reshuffled and three skills were blinking at him. After reading the titles of the skills, Drew scowled. The titles didn’t give enough information. He knew he was running out of time, but this was one area that he couldn’t afford to skimp on. Drew focused on the skills to bring up their information

Summon Imp (Grade – Inferior)

Imps are small demonic creatures. Despite their diminutive size they possess great intelligence. Imps are capable of casting the emberbolt spell as well as supportive magic that can boost their summoner’s HP slightly. Imps are physically weak, and some caution is advised when working with them as casters with weaker mental attribute points may find themselves serving the Imp’s purposes rather than their own. Magical Reagents are necessary to perform the summoning ritual to allow Imps to cross dimensional planes.

Well that one is out for obvious freaking reasons. I need something I can rely on to fight off monsters, I don’t want to be looking my shoulder and expecting betrayal at any given moment. Plus, it requires magical reagents, and I sure as shit don’t have access to those yet.

Summon Shadowhawk (Grade – Inferior)

Shadowhawks are small avian creatures with a strong natural affinity toward shadow. Natural instinct drives the motivation and actions of these creatures unless their summoner has given them direct orders. Shadowhawks are often used for scouting or as diversions as they are physically weak and lack offensive magical abilities.

That sucks, they sounded so cool too. But if they’re worthless in combat, then there’s no point in even getting them. Unfortunately, that leaves me with only one option and I really hope it’s not as bad as it sounds.

Raise Dead (Grade – Inferior)

A staple spell for practitioners of the magical school of necromancery. Raise dead allows the caster to utilize and repurpose any corpse to create a servant, commonly known as a minion. Contrary to popular belief, the Raise Dead spell does not summon or bind the original corpse's soul to their body, but rather creates an unliving servant that follows their summoner’s every command. Undead minions may be given commands either verbally or telepathically as a mental connection exists between them and their summoner. Minions are flexible and may fill the role of either manual labor or combat summon.

Alright, it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I really didn’t relish the thought of bringing poor Mrs. Presly back from the grave. She had a hard enough life. It sounds like they’re more like undead golems than anything else. On the bright side, the spell doesn’t require magical reagents of any kind. Downside being… well, corpses. Just being able to use them for manual labor will make them invaluable. Birds don’t have opposable thumbs – undead can build and fight. Plus, unquestioning loyalty, unlike imps. Still, I will need actual… corpses… Should I take this or try to filter the skill list to allow for options?

Tutorial Introduction time allotment ending soon

Time until transportation to progenitor origin point: One minute.

Well, looks like I’m going with raise dead.

“Hey Spock, we’re almost out of time! Does the caster class get a direct damage spell when it starts off?” Drew asked as quickly as he could.

“Indeed, Drew Wright.”

Fantastic, then I just need something I can use to support my future undead minions. What kind of spells do people have in games when they have undead summons? Ah, some kind of damage over time ability right? That would work, I can weaken monsters as the minions hold the bad guys off and then I can throw whatever direct damage spell I have at them. Come on list of skills, work your magic!

The list reshuffled, and Drew was about to take a look through all the names when a System Message came through.

Tutorial Introduction time allotment ending soon

Time until transportation to progenitor origin point: Thirty seconds.

Shit, no time. Uh… Uh...

Drew looked around the list frantically before choosing one that looked promising.

Corruption (Grade – Inferior)

A Devasting spell that deals damage over time to targets. Damage starts low, and then ramps up as the spell progresses, often ending in horrific displays of internal and external damage done to the target. Corruption is non-intrusive and thus many targets never know when they’ve been inflicted this insidious spell prior to seeing its obvious outward effects. Corruption may be cast instantly for a slight mana cost increase.

The hell? There’s gotta be something a bit less… gruesome.

Time until transportation to progenitor origin point: Five seconds.

Umm… filter by damage over time abilities that don’t sound like a war crime!

Four seconds.

The list began to reshuffle.

Three seconds.

Fuck it there’s no time! I pick the bubonic plague one. Wrap it up!

Two seconds.

Drew’s eyes opened wide as he suddenly remembered something very, very important.

One second.

“Spock, be super quiet when we get there! Don’t say a w—” Drew managed to yell out before his vision went black.